a specialised area of psychology that applies psychological theory and skills to the understanding and functioning of the legal and criminal justice system
Roles of forensic psychologists
assessing whether the person is mentally fit to enter a plea or stand trial
giving advice or an "expert" opinion to a court
providing psychological assessment and treatment to offenders either in prison or on probation in the community
assessing the dangerousness of an offender, making a judgement about the likelihood of their re-offending in the future
actus rea
did they actually commit the crime?
mens rea
did they mean to commit the crime
prediction of accuracy can be correct
true positive: a correct prediction that the individual will be violent
true negative: a correct prediction that the individual will not be violent.
prediction of accuracy can be incorrect
falsepositive: incorrectly identifies someone as a future danger when in reality they are not
falsenegative: incorrectly identifies someone's posing no future risk of violence when in fact they do.
signs of lying
the lie is shorter than the truth
evidence of psychological distancing associated with lying
a person's voice
failing to describe feelings
offender signature
a pattern of distinctive behaviours at the crime scene that reflects something about them as a person.
signature behaviour
acts committed by the offender that are not necessary to complete the crime but is for the offender's satisfaction
